Cornish Gothic, 1830-1913

(Hardback)

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Description

A literary history of Cornwall in the Victorian imagination.

What comes to mind when we think of Cornwall Wild coastlines, golden beaches, sooty miners, and Cornish pasties, perhaps. In the nineteenth century, however, it was considered a frightening and threatening space. This book details the discovery of Cornwall in the popular imagination as the Victorians expanded the rail network and how Cornwall was seen as both a foreign nation on Englands doorstep and as a haunted place, full of ghosts, ghouls, monsters, and legends. Proposing a distinctly Cornish Gothic tradition, Joan Passeys study offers major new readings of writers such as Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, Wilkie Collins, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and introduces many Cornish writers to a broader readership.

Reviews

"Cornish Gothic is a book that is long overdue. Placing beautiful Cornwall at the heart of the Gothic tradition - no longer a 'footnote', Cornwall is shown to be steeped in the Gothic with seams as deep as its mines. Presenting a wealth of new research with a freshness of approach, Joan Passey evidences Cornish Gothic as distinct and historically fascinating."-- "Dr Ruth Heholt, associate professor of dark economies and Gothic literature, Falmouth University"

Author Bio

Joan Passey is a lecturer of English at the University of Bristol.